Hybrid IT Environments: When They Make Sense

It’s possible all business IT systems will move to the cloud soon as innovative technology, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), increases the need for intelligent data storage solutions. But, for such a transition to successfully happen, organizations must first willingly move all their data and workloads to the cloud. That’s where a lot of resistance is evident.

“The reality is migrating compute, storage and workloads to the public cloud isn’t always the right decision. It comes down to cultural choices organizations must make about their risk tolerance and costs,” explains Jeff Moyer, Global Director of Infrastructure as a Service Offerings at DXC.

Satisfying their needs for scale and elasticity of service without moving all their data and workloads to the cloud, many organizations are choosing a hybrid strategy, mixing traditional IT infrastructure with cloud technologies. According to Gartner, 90 percent of organizations will adopt hybrid infrastructure by 2020. That’s why it’s key to know when hybrid IT environments make sense, and when they don’t.

When Hybrid IT Makes Sense?

There’s no question CIOs have a much tougher job today than a decade ago. Mobile technologies have made an impact on the workforce, forever changing the nature of business IT systems. And, compliance regulations are becoming increasingly complicated.

IT leaders are required to deliver elasticity, security and scalability, without adding too much complexity. And that’s possible only when maintaining a minimal onsite data center.

The hybrid cloud provides a value-driven approach. It lets IT leaders leverage the most appropriate technologies to support advanced capabilities and drive innovation. It makes perfect sense for organizations in heavily regulated industries, which can’t risk losing total control over their data. It also works great for organizations with a diverse mix of workloads and legacy monolithic architectures, allowing them to move specific workloads to the cloud. This move optimizes efficiency and increases performance.

When Hybrid IT Doesn’t Make Sense?

The hybrid cloud, however, isn’t without its shortcomings. Arguably, a major downside of hybrid IT environments is the risk for a potential attack moving data outside of the data center. Because security is one of the most pervasive issues organizations face today, it’s understandable some IT leaders are reluctant to move even a fraction of their business IT systems to the cloud.

The hybrid cloud comes with its own management challenges. Workloads must be orchestrated to move between private cloud systems and third-party public cloud services as computing needs and costs change. Fortunately, all hybrid cloud management challenges can be addressed with the help of a managed IT services provider.

Organizations can leverage an MSP’s expertise in architecture, design, planning and optimization of network infrastructure. Those businesses can also experience ongoing support and administration to maintain flexibility as they adapt to rapid changes in technology and business.